eBay Scammer Faces 40 Years In Jail?

from the seems-a-bit...-extreme dept

This news story about some punk kid who thought he could make free money by selling goods on eBay that he never delivered is nothing new. There are stories like this all the time. Lots of people seem to do this without thinking through the fact that they're pretty damn likely to get caught. Still, what caught my eye is the claim at the end of the article that this kid "faces up to 40 years in prison." Now, he probably deserves some jailtime, but 40 years for an eBay scam that netted him less than $5,000? Doesn't that seem a tad excessive? Clearly, eBay scamming isn't the way to go. White collar criminals just get a slap on the wrist and they steal millions...
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2004 @ 4:04pm

    No Subject Given

    ...or billions (pretty sad that corporations stealing millions of $ from people turns out to be a massive understatement in a number of cases)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Fake User, 13 Mar 2004 @ 5:44pm

    Martha?

    Didn't Martha just get jail time for not stealing anything (just lying about her trades?)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 15 Mar 2004 @ 6:17am

    What about..

    ..jailtime for the eBay/PayPal execs who scam their users out of their money? Hmm?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    david, 2 Nov 2005 @ 2:54pm

    40 years for ebay scamming

    You really think that's extreme? I'm dissapointed that the pillory is no longer used as a means of punishment.

    I would be satisfied with lifetime solitary confinement without parole. These bullies deserve no mercy.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.